grandparents engraved in sepia
face textures dry as paper
rural fest in sixties

there is more to the scenery
than decay of green into brownness

clouds snatched from sky
vines burdened with grapes
and in wheatfields, synods of crickets
preach the summer end

pain has bitten into grandpa’s kidneys
since spring
when he saved horses from drowing
in Danube's gelid waters

walled within arms
grandma holds the pitcher of wine

fractured from flute
the balad of their bones hymns in mine

a picture is worth a thousand words
and hides a few strong
reasons


(Published in "Arborealis" anthology,2010,
The Ontario Poetry Society)